Methods to improve fuel combustion efficiency and lower exhaust pollution in spark ignited internal combustion engines

ABSTRACT

Methods of using mixtures containing gasoline type fuels composed primarily of hydrocarbon volatiles falling in a C4-C10 range in a spark ignited internal combustion engine are described.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/823,984, filed May 16, 2013, the entire contents which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Early work by Talbert, documented in patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,332 in 1990, U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,376 in 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,542 in 1994, defined the boiling point range for gasoline so as to allow gasoline to burn homogeneously with air in an internal combustion engine. The secret to the invention was simple-by using gasoline that is composed primarily of volatiles, the fuel will tend to vaporize more readily when mixed with air at ambient conditions. This permits the front end volatility (or Reid Vapor Pressure) to be lowered and a more uniformly mixed vapor and air mixture to enter the combustion chamber. If there are too many heavy components (boiling points greater than 345 deg, F.), as defined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,542, they will not completely vaporize and will result in microscopic oil droplets. These droplets burn more slowly and under fuel rich conditions, thus resulting in greater emission of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide as well as increasing engine “knock” tendency, Vapor-liquid-equilibrium models of the Talbert fuel showed that its superior performance was indeed related to its uniform vaporization.

Realizing that the combination of high volatility and faster burn were inherent properties of the Talbert fuel, Talbert then concluded that high spark advance and/or high compression in engines were no longer needed to volatilize his fuel and that this fuel would actually perform better at lower octane numbers. This led to U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,589.

Later testing at Universal Technical Institute's automotive laboratories, the results of which are herein included as examples 1, 2, and 3, provide both evidence of low octane workability and data that fully supports the current patent application. The Talbert fuel, called E Gasoline II in the U.S. patent is here referred to as E II.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In ongoing research after U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,589 issued it was discovered that not only could complete combustion be achieved in a standard commercial spark ignited internal combustion engine but pollution from said engine could be substantially reduced. Examples, 1, 2, #3 are provided for review. The data in example 3 confirmed several of Talbert's theories on high air/fuel ratio ignition.

An object of this invention is to provide a method to achieve a significant increase in air to fuel ratios in a spark ignited internal combustion engine without excessive preheating of the induction air.

Another object of this invention is to reduce the emission of exhaust pollutants from spark ignited internal combustion engines.

A further object of this invention is to regulate the air/fuel ratios of a spark ignited internal combustion engine based on power required so as to maintain reliable ignition and reduce fuel consumption.

A still further object of this invention is a lockout of the operator accelerator pedal or connecting rods attached thereto so as to provide vehicle speed control when using a fuel or air regulator system to change the air to fuel ratio.

With a fuel control device as described above the accelerator pedal can be locked out at any vehicle speed by the operator and automatically disengaged when the operator pushes the accelerator or brake pedal.

It should be obvious to those skilled in this field of art that example 3 was selected not to mislead others to believe the gasoline composed primarily of volatiles was capable of achieving complete combustion under all conditions. This is not the case, as it was selected to show a gasoline composed primarily of volatiles having a Reid Vapor Pressure between 6 and 7 psi could have exhaust pollution reduction approaching zero with the exception of C02.

In certain embodiments “gasoline composed primarily of volatiles” means gasoline comprising at least 95% by volume of volatiles, for example at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% by volume of volatiles. In certain embodiments “gasoline composed primarily of volatiles” means gasoline comprising up to and including 100% by volume of volatiles. “Gasoline composed primarily of volatiles” can also mean gasoline comprising from 90% to 100% by volume of volatiles or from 95% to 100% by volume of volatiles. The volatiles can comprise hydrocarbon volatiles, can consist essentially of hydrocarbon volatiles, or can consist of hydrocarbon volatiles.

It is also important to note that because of the higher percent or volatiles in the Talbert fuel, idle RPM's can be reduced over RPM's required by current gasoline because of improved ignition properties.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Much energy derived from gasoline is wasted in current gasoline type engines by using spark advance or high compression to vaporize or gasify more of the gasoline. Also heated intake manifolds have also been used to improve the quantity of fuel that is in the proper state for improving ignition properties or power production. Preheating the induction air also causes a loss in volumetric efficiency which results in a loss of power.

Therefore using a gasoline type fuel composed primarily of hydrocarbon volatiles, a fuel that will vaporize/gasify in ambient air, as the fuel for spark ignited internal combustion engines, as verified by UTI testing results, see examples 1, 2, and 3, as the fuel for S1 engines is ideal, not only from a fuel combustion efficiency point of view but for its environmental attributes.

Also having a fuel that will operate well over a broad air-to-fuel ratio range allows regulation of the mixture based on power required by the operator or by a fixed setting such as idle.

One way the fuel can be regulated in an engine is by use of a summing amplifier and a transconductance amplifier. As the RPM of the engine increases at no load the summing amplifier will put out an increasing voltage. When load is applied the transconductance amplifier feeds a supplementary voltage to the summing amplifier, the amount of voltage being fed is determined by the difference between operator demand and engine RPM. The amount of supplementary voltage at each level of engine RPM is limited so that the total voltage going to the fuel injectors will not cause the injector to release fuel in excess of a stoichiometric balance at any RPM.

The voltage coming from the summing amplifier to the injector determines the amount of time the injector stays open hence regulating the amount of fuel that is injected into the induction air. 

1. A method to achieve reliable high air-to-fuel ignition of combustion mixtures in spark ignited internal combustion engines by using mixtures containing gasoline type fuels composed primarily of hydrocarbon volatiles falling in a C4-C10 range.
 2. A method to improve the fuel combustion efficiency of spark ignited internal combustion engines by using the method of claim 1 and regulating the air-to-fuel ratio based on power required.
 3. A method to achieve a high reduction of exhaust pollutants from spark ignited internal combustion engines by using a gasoline type fuel composed primarily of hydrocarbon volatiles falling in a C4-C10 range.
 4. A method to achieve a lower engine RPM at idle in a vehicle powered by a spark ignited internal combustion engine by using as the engine fuel, a gasoline type fuel composed primarily of C4-C10 hydrocarbon volatiles falling within a C4-C10 range.
 5. A method to conserve energy in a spark ignited internal combustion engine by retarding the spark advance or lowering the engine compression when using a gasoline comprised primarily of hydrocarbon volatiles falling within a range of C4-C10. 